The Pain of the Sea
by CancerTheCrab
Summary: When Annabeth was cursed by Calypso in Tartarus, Bob was too late to save her. Percy was left all alone and barely survived both physically and mentally. Now that Percy has returned to camp there's no way for him to avoid Calypso. He shatters and Frank and Hazel needs to help put him back together. Rated T for safety. Strong platonic relationships. PercyxFrank if you squint.
When Frank woke up this day, he didn't think one of the worst days of his life would start like this.

The sun was falling onto his floor through the curtains of the Big House, where he was staying for the summer. He didn't want to intrude on person, so he would be sleeping in the guest room. Back to the problem at hand. Percy had gone to his mother's for the weekend before he spent the whole summer at Camp Half-Blood. Leo had arrived the same day that Percy had left for the apartment in the city, so the two would have to wait for the reunion.

Percy had needed time away from the camp. When he'd collapsed out of the elevator, he'd been in critical condition. Almost dead, actually. It was a miracle he had survived over night. Annabeth hadn't been with him and the moment anyone asked about it he'd just…stop. His breathing stopped for a moment and his eyes…they would darken further. That was the only thing that was obviously changed forever, apart from the new scars. His eyes were no longer capable of the endearing look, the boyish charm. The impish spark in them was gone for who knows how long. They were the same beautiful hue but Percy wasn't the same man. He had literally gone through hell and it showed itself in his irises. He'd gone to his mother's for the first time since the war ended. Frank had overheard at his mother's funeral reception that some soldiers didn't come home even if they returned from the war. Not until they'd begun to heal. Percy wasn't an exception. He'd also been through a war, and this one had gods and a diabolical Mother Earth. When he talked to Frank about it he said that he wasn't the son Sally Jackson had lost 9 months ago.

Today he'd be coming back to camp. No one warned Frank, no one said anything about the consequences of a single girl.

oO-Oo

Frank was startled awake when he heard yelling. It sounded terribly familiar...oh gods. It was Percy.

The son of Ares threw on some clothes and ran out of the Big House toward the sound of his yelling. It was near the lake, of course, Percy had always been near it in the short time between the war and after. Frank noticed that Festus and the other five from the prophecy, his best friends, were there. Calypso was also there and was the one Percy was yelling at. Frank almost let out a sigh of relief now that he knew Percy wasn't in danger.

As Frank got closer he was able to hear, "…ault! It was your fault! Why couldn't you have just been happy for me? If you really loved me back then you would have been happy that I was! Why was I the exception? Why did you cling to me? I'm not a better man than any of the demigods sent to your island!" He was gasping for breath and Calypso had tears streaming down her face. Leo was trying to pull her away. He looked angry but compared to Percy, it was nothing.

"You left me on that island! All alone!" She screamed back.

"And now I'm alone! Annabeth is dead and gone and you still have Leo! I have _no one!_ " Frank's breath caught in his throat. In the short time that Percy was still at camp before visiting his mom, he hadn't shed a single tear. Frank thought it had been odd, how he was always there for the mourning campers. How strong he was. Now he knew that it was an act.

"It's not _my_ fault! I didn't mean to kill her!" Percy froze and his eyes widened, the lake splashed behind them and in the distance, thunder boomed in an oncoming storm. The sun had been shining moment before. The son of Poseidon began to laugh. It was just a breathy chuckle but everyone around him was frozen, terrified of what could happen next.

"Not your fault, huh," he was deathly quiet, "Yeah okay. I guess it's not your fault that you cursed her. It's not your fault that in her dying moments, blind and hurting, she thought I had left her. It's not your fault that she thought the person who loved her and promised to protect her had left her all alone in that hell hole. It's not your fault." The wind seemed to push Frank back but he was getting closer. Calypso's jaw worked and her lips gaped but she couldn't summon ant words. "She's gone. It wasn't her fault that I left you." Frank finally got to the tortured demigod. He put his hand on his shoulder but Percy shrugged it off violently. "It wasn't her fault that I left you." He tried to grab his pale arm as Hazel came around to his other side, biting her lip to keep from crying. Tears overflowed in those ocean green eyes and a heartbreaking sob came from his shaking body. Frank and Hazel tried to pull at him, to get him away from the not-so-friendly girl. "You should have cursed me! Why didn't you? Do you have any idea what it feels like to feel the love of your life stop breathing in your arms?Why didn't you pick me? _You should have cursed me!_ " A wave of shock passed through the battered group and the small amount of demigods, including Chiron, which had gathered during the fight. The rest of camp was either at their parents, gone, or knew to stay away.

Lightning struck closer this time and the lake began to froth with the power of its waves. The sky was dark and the earth rumbled. And suddenly, it all stopped. He whispered, "Why didn't you kill me?" Percy collapsed in Frank's arms and sobbed brokenly. Piper and Jason came closer, the daughter of Aphrodite with tears on her face and Jason trembling. Leo had backed away a couple steps from Calypso. She hadn't told any of the demigods about this. The other demigods had dispersed with their morals practically shattered.

The glue of the seven- no, six demigods that had gone through thick and thin together was crumbling. Their pillar of strength was in pieces. So, Frank decided that intruding on Percy wasn't a bad idea. He wouldn't mind intruding if it meant keeping him healthy and happy, or at least back together again. They could work on the "healthy and happy " later, together.

Frank had no qualms about lying in his friend's bed with him, along with Hazel, trying to keep him from shaking and providing whatever comfort they could. They were best friends and had been through so much that it wasn't awkward at all. It felt natural, or necessary. So he set down Percy and when the scarred hands didn't let go of the taller demigod's shirt, he laid himself down next to him. Hazel curled up on the other side, the two demigods facing each other and Frank stretched out by his back. She held his shaking hand as their foreheads touched. It wasn't actually a new position or anything, on the quest through Alaska they'd laid like this after the mud incident.

Percy needed him right now. The very least he could do is be there, but Frank would do more. He'd help him. He'd be his pillar of strength now.

oO-Oo

 **A/N:** Just a really short angsty oneshot that I wrote at like 11:30 pm. Sorry I haven't updated other stories…and I keep just making new ones…and I just keep making fanfics for different fandoms…yeah sorry. I'm trying to work on a new chapter for An Early Confession but it's not easy. I won't give up, though! I hope you enjoyed it, or cried? I don't know, it's an angsty oneshot for Percy Jackson, and boy is he an angst machine. I might do a dark!Percy if inspiration strikes. Bye bye!


End file.
